Jake parked his car near his apartment block and walked to his favourite bar. Then he perched himself on a stool and spent the evening drinking bottled beer. He knew he looked pathetic but he just couldn’t bring himself to talk to anyone.
“I think you’ve had enough,” said the bartender after a while.
“I’m just so stressed,” he replied. Then he poured out his vitriol for Lorna while the man mopped up spilt beer with a tea towel.
“It sounds like you need a new job, man. Nothing should make you feel that bad,” stated the bartender.
Jake left a hefty tip. He had appreciated the small amount of sympathy the man had given him, even though it didn’t help.
Back at his apartment, Jake found that the lift was broken again. His body ached. A strange lethargy filled his limbs. He felt so tired he wondered if he could possibly make it up the stairs. Even so, he dragged his weary bones up one flight and then the next, until he staggered down the hallway to his sparse accommodation.
Jake fell asleep in front of the TV with a bottle of beer on the table beside him and a day old stale pizza still in the box.
He felt his body shifting. A strange, but painless transition, though his cheek bones ached, as his chin fell down onto his chest. His face grew numb, teeth felt peculiar and large in his mouth. Grandma, what big teeth you have.
I’m dreaming, he thought as he stretched out, falling from the chair to land on all fours. Then he saw himself as a wolf running through the streets. The city looked different through colour blind eyes. It was a blur of noise and smells that were difficult to separate one from the other.
He ran and ran, his heart rattling in his chest. He felt wildly excited at the thought of the chase. He would find a strong enemy to battle. Jake knew then that he was hunting his prey.
Jake saw an old man pushing a supermarket trolley full of junk through the dark streets. He stopped about ten feet away and sniffed the air. The man smelt of shit and decay. Filth caked the grooves in his neck and the bare fingers tips that peaked out from fingerless gloves. The man’s blood pumped slowly through a haltering heart. He noticed the pronounced limb last: there would be no sport in killing this quarry. This meal was unworthy. Jake backed away, hiding among the trash cans in a stinking alley. The old man passed and the Jake watched him, hungry, but not enough to want to eat a lesser meal.
Jake felt strangely distant from the wolf that he was sure he was dreaming he had turned into, yet still connected. He glanced down at his front paw. The wolf’s pelt was the same black as his own hair and he could still smell the faint perfume of the Urban Wolf deodorant.
Behind him, in the alley, he heard the beating of warm, hot, young heart. He turned, following the smell and he came across his food unconscious among the trash cans of the local bar. Jake sniffed the young man’s body. He was clean, but he smelt of alcohol. The kid oozed it from every pore. Even so, this, thought the wolf, was an easy meal. He debated waking his victim. A part of him knew that it wouldn’t be as much fun if he didn’t give chase.
“Pete? Petey?” called a voice from the other end of the alley. Jake noticed a back door open, and heard the pulsing beat of music coming from inside. This was the back door of a club he didn’t know and he backed away into the shadows as two other men came outside.
“Shit! What’s he doing out here like that?” one of the men said.
The other man knelt down beside the sleeping drunk, “Come on Buddy, let’s get you outta here. Silvia won’t thank us for leaving you in an alley the night before your wedding.”
Jake stayed in the shadows and watched as the drunk was lifted by his two friends. He was suddenly glad he hadn’t given into the urges of the wolf.
He slipped away, roaming the streets until he found himself outside his own apartment once more. He looked up. The moon was still half full and it burnt down over his apartment block. Jake lay down as he felt the change rippling through his pelt. He was becoming human once again.
The next day Jake dressed in a clean shirt and suit. He didn’t think about the strange dream he’d had the night before as he picked up the roll-on of Urban Wolf, sniffed it, used it and placed it back inside his bathroom cabinet. By the time he left his apartment, he felt less tired and emotionally drained than usual. In fact he even had a spring in his step as he walked down the corridor to the elevator. The ‘Out of Order’ sign was gone and Jake took this as a good omen. Today was going to be better. He just knew it.
On the street he passed by his usual haunts. The local bar was closed this early but he saw the delivery of beer bottles being lowered into the basement and he waved at the bartender that had been listening to his sorrows the night before.
There goes that freak who doesn’t know how to deal with a female boss.
Jake stopped. He looked back at the man and saw he was talking to the truck driver. Had he just heard him tell the driver that he had problems with his boss? Jake stared at the bartender’s back. The man’s arms were folded casually and he was laughing with the driver. They both glanced over at him. Jake saw the bartender’s lips move but couldn’t hear the words but he thought that the barman said he was a “Complete weirdo ...”
“Hey! Dude! How’s it going today?” called the barman. His smile was friendly and casual.
Jake waved again and turned away, hurrying towards his car. Jesus. I’m imagining things, he thought. He opened his car door, climbed in and started the engine. He didn’t glance back at the bartender and the driver. He had the irrational thought that he would hear more of the man’s thoughts.
As he reached the office, Jake thought he heard the security guard call his name. When he looked up he saw the man staring at him, smiling. You won’t be here long. I’ve seen better than you come and go.
Jake paused and stared back at the man until the guard became embarrassed and returned his gaze to the security monitors. Jake walked over the polished marble floors and entered the lift. He hoped that no one else would join him in there.
“Ah, Jake,” said Lorna. “Just the person I wanted to see.”
Jake looked up from his office desk and met Lorna’s gaze. She was wearing a pinstriped skirt and matching jacket. The jacket was fastened up to her breasts but Jake could tell that she wasn’t wearing anything else underneath it.
“Yes, Lorna?” he replied.
“I’d like to go over the proposal you sent me yesterday for the Yoghurt campaign. I need you to explain what you were thinking.”
“What I was thinking?” asked Jake.
“Yes. If I’m to take this to the board I need to justify why you think this string of adverts would work better than the current ones. We have to validate the cost of re-doing them.”
Jake stared at Lorna. “You’re taking my proposal to the board?”
“That’s what I said didn’t I?” Lorna snapped. “But, credit where it’s due. It’s good work Jake.” Lorna smiled at him slyly.
Jake was taken aback. He stared at Lorna for a moment before answering. “I...I’m free this afternoon.”
“Well, I have meetings all day,” Lorna stated. “Come to my office at six and we’ll discuss it then.”
After she left Jake stared at the closed door. It wasn’t like Lorna to come to his office, nor was it normal for her to meet him to ‘discuss’ his proposals. He felt there must be some trick. Some scam. She wanted to know how he came up with his ideas so that when she claimed them for herself she would be equipped with the knowledge and links behind them.
Jake felt sick. He couldn’t do this anymore. He had to look for another job. Lorna was eating his soul and he felt as though his own creativity was dying. He felt restless and so he stood up and prowled his office, pausing by the glass window to look out over the typing pool. At that moment, Tiffany, one of the young secretaries, looked up and met his eyes.
Loser! We all know you’re Lorna’s lust puppy.
Jake blinked and then blushed. Tiffany looked back at her screen and continued to wor
k. Jake shook his head. What was wrong with him? He couldn’t really be hearing people’s thoughts, could he?
He wanted to know what was going on, and so he opened the office door with every intention of talking to the girl. A rush of captured noise came into his room. Snippets of conversation, “...sugar in that coffee?”, “he’s ...you”, “I want a raise but just can’t ask”. Someone had brought in a hot deli sandwich and the smell lingered tantalisingly in the air. Jake half-remembered the hunger he’d felt in his dream the night before. He looked around the room as all of the detail came rushing back. His senses were overwhelmed with it, even though he knew the experience hadn’t been real.
He wished he was a wolf: outside he could see and smell many a tasty meal. A pretty secretary walked by and smiled. Jake looked at her thin arms and legs and turned away. There wasn’t enough meat on her to feed a bird, let alone a wolf.
At that moment, Karen and John, two of his fellow assistants, walked towards him on the way to the coffee machine. He met John’s eyes. You gotta know how to treat bitches.
Jake quickly looked away but found himself looking at Karen instead. She does this to all of her assistants. Wish I could offer advice, but I doubt you’d listen.
“Jake? You okay?” asked Karen.
Jake nodded but he could barely hear her over the sudden rush of voices in his head. He was afraid to speak in case he gave himself away. Jake was convinced that he was losing his mind.
“Want a coffee?” Karen offered kindly.
Jake sniffed. Karen smelt good like warm pastries and hot chocolate. He breathed in deeply, and then nodded again to hide the fact that he was snuffling around her a dog. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted to taste Karen. It occurred to him how perverse this was, after all he saw her as food, not in a sexual light. Even so the thought aroused him more than pornographic visions of her might have done.
“Yes. I could use a drink,” Jake said to cover his thoughts.
Lorna’s office was the only one on the floor that had no glass panels. Once the door was closed, you couldn’t see what was happening inside which Jake had thought was just as well since they had their liaisons in there. Jake paused outside the door as they passed and Karen and John exchanged a look. Poor Jerk. He’s got it bad. Then, Jake began to laugh. This was too much. It really was insane. No way could he possibly be hearing all of their thoughts like this. He looked up from the coffee machine to find Karen, John and three of the secretary’s looking at him. He turned and walked away from the machine, rapidly seeking the comfort and peace of his office.
At 6pm, like a good, well-trained puppy, Jake went into Lorna’s office. She was sat behind her huge desk, her skinny frame dwarfed by the masculine wood and the MD, Kirk Weiss, was sitting on the leather sofa at the other side of the room.
“Jake. Glad you could make it,” Lorna said. “Kirk would like to hear your ideas.”
Jake had planned to tell Lorna some vague concept of where his ideas came from, but on finding Kirk there, he knew this was his one chance to impress the boss. Jake began to tell Kirk and Lorna all about his thoughts for the yoghurt campaign. It was based on health and fitness. He recommended that the product be sold as if it had health benefits, but without actually saying that.
“But how would we do that?” probed Kirk.
“By implying it, rather than saying it,” Jake explained. “For example the expression ‘tests show’, or ‘99% of people found this beneficial’. Of course we put on the usual disclaimer to cover the client’s back.”
Kirk Weiss nodded as Jake spoke and by the end of the meeting he felt more like his old self and his confidence was soaring.
“That’s good stuff, son,” stated Kirk. “Where did you find this talent, Lorna?”
“Jake has been working very closely with me for the past several months. Recently he’s been showing a great deal of promise,’ Lorna replied.
Jake felt her eyes on him and he glanced up. I’m grooming you for bigger things.
Afterwards, Lorna did not demand her usual sexual privileges and Jake went home, for once, to a relatively pain free, early night. He felt elated. He was finally getting some recognition for all of his hard work. So what if he hadn’t received the acknowledgment he deserved for the deodorant? The yoghurt campaign was big. This could be his ticket to an executive position in the firm.
He showered and used the Urban Wolf roll-on with glee. Tonight, Jake planned to celebrate.
Later he passed by one of the exclusive shops. There was a shirt in the window that he had admired from time to time. It was blue, smart, but expensive. The store was open late and so Jake decided to go in and buy it. Why not? He rarely treated himself and he had been saving all of his spare salary because he had felt so insecure in the job.
He tried on the shirt, and for good measure bought two more work shirts. They were expensive but they made Jake feel like he was an executive already. The dream of success that he had held so closely to his chest now no longer seemed impossible.
When he finally stumbled home, he collapsed fully clothed onto his bed. He’d had a very good night and his self-esteem was as high as it could be.
But then he became the urban wolf again. Though this time he felt every bone break, every sinew restructure. The pain in his face as his chin, mouth and nose, merged and elongated, becoming a dog-like muzzle, was almost unbearable. His joints bent backwards at agonising angles and blood poured from his mouth and his teeth grew down, from swollen, bloody gums. He tasted the blood on his lips and it made the fury and hunger rise inside him.
He found himself outside, slinking in and out of dark corners, around houses, and bars and alleys. The smell of human and animal flesh scorched his nostrils and perpetual hunger twisted his guts, until he could stand it no longer. Jake had never felt so empty. His part human mind railed against it. He had eaten well, was happy. There was no need for this empty feeling.
He found himself hiding at the back of his local haunt staring at the closed door. Even though it was late he could hear the movement of someone still working inside. There was the sharp chink of bottles in crates being stacked up and the smell of food, some slightly rotted, wafted through the small gap under the door. Jake sniffed, taking in the smells and enjoying the nicest aroma of them all: human flesh.
He backed away as he heard the door unlock, slipping behind one of the dumpsters and then he saw the bartender come out carrying to large black refuse sacks. The bartender lifted the lid of the nearest dumpster and casually threw the refuse bags inside. Jake gagged on the overpowering odour of decayed food. He staggered back, knocking over a garbage can. The can fell with a loud clang spilling its vile contents over the alley floor. He felt liquid tacky dampen his paws and he howled in frustration.
“What the fuck...? Who’s there?” called the Bartender. “Hey! Buddy! What you doing there?”
Jake turned, running on all fours, away from the alley, though the hunger screamed louder than his beating heart. He couldn’t shake the thought that the bartender had recognised him despite the transformation. The thought terrified him as he ran all the way home.
Jake woke in a fugue, head hurting, jaw aching as though had been grinding his teeth all night. He shook away the weird wolf dream but it lingered in the corners of his subconscious along with the sick feeling that followed a hangover.
It was Saturday and Jake was relieved when he realised that he wouldn’t have to drag himself to work that day. He threw back the covers and slipped gingerly from the bed. He walked groggily into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked awful. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin sallow and his hands trembled as he reached for his toothbrush. He showered and applied the Urban Wolf deodorant. It made him feel fresh and vibrant. As he placed the roll-on down on his bathroom shelf, his eyes fell on the slogan: ‘It turns man into beast’. It gave him a jolt. It was as though he had only just noticed this on the label, even though he had personally invented the lin
e.
What if that’s true? He thought. What if I’m turning into a wolf?
The idea was insane, but Jake did feel different. Since the first time he had used the product he had been having strange dreams. Even now, the hangover was rapidly receding as though his powers of recovery had become keener. As he shaved he scrutinised his face in the mirror. Could it be that last night his jaw had grown into the large maw of a wolf? He glanced down at his fingers nails; they were definitely longer and sharper than usual and, it seemed impossible, but had his hair grown too? It had been such a short time since his last hair cut, but Jake felt the style had already grown out. It looked nicer though, somewhat longer and he pushed it back from his face, slicking it with gel.
Then, Jake turned and looked over his shoulder at his bare back. The scars from Lorna’s nails were no longer there and the skin was smooth and bare as it had always been. What could this all mean?
On Monday, Jake walked into work with more confidence than he had ever had. He wasn’t going to be anyone’s whipping boy anymore and he wouldn’t take any more crap from Lorna. Instead of quietly slipping past her office, Jake walked boldly in and found Lorna already on the phone in the middle of the negotiations for the Yoghurt adverts.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
“The client likes the ideas. We’ve been given the go ahead,” Lorna stated. “But don’t let it go to your head. You’re still just my assistant.”
Jake gave Lorna his best predatory smile. “As if I could ever forget that Lorna.”
Lorna blinked. She looked uncomfortable as he towered over her desk and then she stood up. Jake knew this trick: it was how she changed the power in the room, next she would be asking him to take a seat and then, she would tower over him in her six inch killer heels.
“Jake. Why don’t you take a seat?”
The Demonologia Biblica Page 33
